In my second missive on the channel 6 radio phenomenon back in June I took note of Schenectady New York’s WRGB-TV. That station’s director of engineering made clear his intention to keep WRGB’s analog audio signal going even after the digital transition.

Now some ten weeks after the June 12 analog shutoff WRGB’s little experiment has come to an end. According to a brief statement posted to the station’s website dated August 24, general manager Robert Furlong acknowledges that this digital TV station has no authorization from the FCC to continue an analog broadcast on the FM dial, and announces the FM broadcast has been turned off, “effective immediately.”

I’ve not turned up any additional explanation for killing it so suddenly. My guess is that the station got a pretty firm message from the FCC reminding them that the license to broadcast an analog signal of any kind expired on June 12. I can’t see how WRGB continuing its 87.7 FM broadcast can be seen as anything but unlicensed operation, which would earn any other unlicensed broadcaster an FCC nastygram, at the very least.

Furlong also says that the station management “reviewing our options,” though I can’t really imagine what those options might be. They could petition the FCC to let them resume the analog broadcast, but that’s a very long longshot. Or perhaps they could reach an arrangement for simulcast with a desperate local radio station. Yet that option quickly gets complex, since I’m certain all of WRGB’s network affiliation and syndication agreements are for TV broadcast only. Adding a real radio simulcast would likely require renegotiating all of those contracts.

The appearance of analog TV’s channel 6 on the far left end of the FM dial was not designed in. Rather it was a happy accident which provided some listeners with an extra channel of programming and some other broadcasters an opportunity to sneak onto the FM dial. Like many such accidents, it might have been good while it lasted, but the sun seems to be setting for channel 6 on FM.

Interestingly, Fred Lass, the director of engineering for Schenectady, NY’s WRGB-TV, tells TV Technology that he’s considering methods for continuing to have an analog FM audio broadcast alongside the station’s digital signal:

“We have a plan to continue operating on 87.7 after we go digital,” he said. “We think that it’s possible to operate with a vertically polarized analog FM audio carrier when we go back to ch. 6 for DTV. That signal will be horizontally polarized, of course, and there should be enough cross pol isolation to make it work.”

Lass admits that he really hasn’t tried this yet, but thinks it should work.

It never occurred to me that DTV stations would be permitted to continue broadcasting an analog FM audio signal, and I wonder if this is something that would require permission from the FCC.

Hearing channel 6 audio on the FM dial seems to be one of those side benefits that a lot of folks in the broadcast community didn’t realize was being taking advantage of so widely. Nor do I think it was anticipated how much it would be missed. Indeed, even Broadcast Engineering blogger Brad Dick writes about his surprise at looking for TV audio on his radio on June 13, the day after the DTV transition.

OMG! I suddenly realized analog television was gone. I would no longer be able to listen to the “CBS Sunday Morning” show while jogging around my parks and roadways. I wouldn’t be able to catch the evening newscasts from ABC, FOX or NBC while biking. I began to realize how much enjoyment I received from listening to television while running. Now that pleasure was gone forever.

The continued existence of digital TV on channel 6 spectrum space might complicate any attempts to expand the FM non-commercial broadcast dial south a couple of notches. Nevertheless I think the laments over the loss of TV audio on FM and on multi-band radios indicates that there is still a healthy demand for audio programming that isn’t otherwise being satisfied by current radio offerings. And where there’s unfulfilled demand there is also opportunity for radio broadcasters to try something more innovative.

WLFM 87.7FM & Channel 6

Still listening to the station on the way home I heard commercials, but still no station ID, leaving me more confused. Listening a bit longer at home gave no more clues, so the internet I did search. I quickly learned that the station at 87.7 FM is not a radio station, but actually TV channel 6, WLFM-LP. And I was right that the broadcast was a direct reaction to the shuttering of WNUA.

You see, analog TV channel 6 bumps right up against the bottom of the FM radio dial. TV sound is also frequency modulated, just like radio, so the sound for channel 6 can be heard at the very bottom of the dial. But, you might be thinking, “didn’t analog TV go away on June 12? Wouldn’t that kill WLFM?” Well, if you’re talking about a full-power station on channel 6, you’d be right. But WLFM is a low-power TV station (LPTV) and the digital changeover didn’t happen for LPTV.

There had been some hope amongst non-commercial radio supporters that the DTV transition would free up 87.7 FM for new stations in all of the markets with full-power TV stations on channel 6. Right now that’s an unknown possibility, since in April the FCC said it won’t be processing applications that would take over vacated channel 6 spectrum until it makes another public notice or opens a rulemaking proceeding.

But for those seventy-seven licensed LPTV stations on Channel 6 there’s a golden opportunity to make radio. Some of those stations have already seized the opportunity, including Anchorage’s KABA and New York City’s WNYZ. In fact Chicago’s WLFM originally planned to syndicate WNYZ’s “The Pulse” dance music programming, but the deal fell through.

Those wanting to get into radio–especially in large metropolitan markets without any open frequencies–might be tempted to find an open channel 6 for an LPTV station. However, the FCC only accepts LPTV applications during a narrow window period, and currently no window is scheduled. Still, it might be cheaper to buy an existing LPTV on channel 6 than an actual existing radio station.

Nevertheless I find it ironic that while many in the media business are waiting to call the time of death for radio there are enterprising LPTV operators choosing to turn their stations into overgrown radio outlets. Of course, with the full-power DTV transition completed there are many fewer viewers scanning the last holdouts in the analog TV spectrum, so perhaps radio really does have promise for more audience and revenue.

Maybe even the LPTV stations on other channels besides 6 might have some chance at becoming radio stars, too. Quite a few models of AM/FM radios also included TV sound of channels 2 – 13. A quick search online  shows at least a couple of dozen still readily available for sale. While a much smaller audience than regular FM radio listeners, there might be some inveterate radiogeeks who could be hooked in to listening to a dedicated audio feed on the otherwise abandoned VHF TV dial.

Of course, the UHF LPTV stations would still be left out of the game, since few radios include UHF coverage, given that it’s much higher frequency range than FM or VHF TV. Yet, perhaps that’s a use for the millions of now-obsolete analog TVs out there. They could become newfangled radio receivers — radio with pretty pictures!

OK, I recognize that’s stretching the TV-as-radio idea into the realm of the improbable. But it still goes to show that in the digital broadcast age good old radio could be the future of analog TV.